70 years worth of diaries! Extraordinary. My guess is that if he explicitly left them for you to read, then they are interesting, probably more than just accounts of day to day life or outpourings of unhappinesses. If it were me, I'd be tempted to read paragraphs here and there from random volumes, to begin with, just to get a sense of his writing style, as a way to ease into thinking how much I wanted to read of the whole. What a fascinating thing.
Someone has written a book recently on her aunt's diaries that I haven't read, but I did read an essay in which she wrote about the project. I think it was in The Paris Review; I'll see if I come up with a link.
I bet they are full of really interesting observations. If I ever manage to move to a house instead of a flat I'll have to take them in so I have the option of dipping into them, but for now my dad's right - I have nowhere to put them. Do add the link if you find it, that sounds interesting.
Now I come to think of it, I've got over 30 years of my own diaries in a couple of boxes! This is part of why I have no room to take in things from other people :-)
70 years worth of diaries! Extraordinary. My guess is that if he explicitly left them for you to read, then they are interesting, probably more than just accounts of day to day life or outpourings of unhappinesses. If it were me, I'd be tempted to read paragraphs here and there from random volumes, to begin with, just to get a sense of his writing style, as a way to ease into thinking how much I wanted to read of the whole. What a fascinating thing.
Someone has written a book recently on her aunt's diaries that I haven't read, but I did read an essay in which she wrote about the project. I think it was in The Paris Review; I'll see if I come up with a link.
I bet they are full of really interesting observations. If I ever manage to move to a house instead of a flat I'll have to take them in so I have the option of dipping into them, but for now my dad's right - I have nowhere to put them. Do add the link if you find it, that sounds interesting.
Now I come to think of it, I've got over 30 years of my own diaries in a couple of boxes! This is part of why I have no room to take in things from other people :-)